Gudrun Wallentin

I am Associate Professor for Geoinformatics and Ecology at the Depatment of Geoinformatics – Z_GIS. I am Director of Studies of the UNIGIS MSc distance learning programme for GIScience & Systems and I lead the Spatial Simulation research group.

My research interest is spatially-explicit simulation modelling of complex, ecological systems. My aim is to advance spatial simulation modelling methods, as well as to use these models to gain a better understanding of the behaviour of animals and the functioning of ecological systems.

At UNIGIS, I am responsible for curriculum development, online didactics, and provision of learning media for both, the German and the English language programmes. For the latter I am in charge of supporting and advancing the international network of UNIGIS Salzburg study centres worldwide.

I hold a MSc in Ecology from the University of Innsbruck, a MSc in GIS from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD from the University of Innsbruck. After working six years as the Executive Director of the Nature Park ‘Zillertaler Alpen’ in Tyrol, Austria, I came back to academia. First, at the GIScience Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and then to my current position at the University of Salzburg.

Luckily, my teaching is closely related to my reserach interests. I teach in the residential programmes for Ecology, Geoinformatics and Geography as well as in the UNIGIS programmes, including courses on Spatial Simulation, Modelling Geographic Systems, Introduction to Geoinformatics and Spatial Models and Ecosystems.